Michigan Vamp

My Old License Plate

Eccentric Night Owl

Quote from Blood Read

"An ambiguously coded figure, a source of both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century."~ page 2 introduction to Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture

Intellectual Vampire Quote

"If the vampire is an other, he or she was always a figure in whom one could find one's self...the despicable as well as the defiant, the shameful as well as the unashamed, the loathing of oddness as well as pride in it."~ Richard Dyer

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Venice,
once the golden seat for the conspiracies of an Adriatic empire, slowly
declined into the European center of debauchery for generations of
disillusioned wastrels flaunting the strictures of the world beyond its waters.
By the time Alyse Kate Bryant steps into the island’s ruins in FACES IN THE
WATER, Venice
has little more left than the legends of what she once was. But those legends
grow restless and unwitting accomplices breathe life into those ruthless,
hungry elemental powers ready to live again.

Hidden identities,
secret intrigues, shadowy assignations.

The masks of Venice
have become a symbol of the city, a metaphor for her once darkly glittering
splendor. Although associated with Carnival, Venetians clung to their masks,
not just for that wild celebration, but to cast a veil of mystery over any
number of machinations from gambling to dabbling with nuns to courting across
class boundaries.

The traditional masks enter the history books in the 13th
century as a cover for young men tossing perfume or rose water-filled eggs at
ladies—something that had to be prohibited by law. As anything with such a long
history, the masks have taken on symbolic traditions of their own.

The Bauta

Possibly derived from the Veneto-Italian bogey man the
“bau-bao” (although there are other theories), the traditional Bauta was a
white full-coverage mask with a protruding lower half for ease of eating and
drinking. It was typically worn by both genders with a tricorne hat and a black
cloak.

The Moretta

Known also as the Mute Maid Servant, the Moretta “Dark” mask
was an oval mask of black velvet with eye holes, but no mouth, worn with a wide
brimmed hat and/or a veil. The “silent” aspect arose from the fact that the
wearer held the mask to her face by grasping a button between her teeth. The
mask was often used by upper class women visiting convents.

The Gnaga

The Gnaga comprised of a small mask sometimes mimicking a
woman’s features coupled with women’s dress and was most popularly used by
young men seeking homosexual encounters. Some claim the name comes from the
term “gnao” comparing the exaggerated falsettos employed with the costume to a
cat’s meow.

The Mattaccino

This was the mask favored by those men with their
egg-launching slingshots. It is a clown-like mask and the costume generally
included a pouch for carrying said eggs.

The Volto or Larva

The most typical Venetian mask, the “Larva” name may derive
from the Latin for ghost. Volto simply means “face.” Originally, a partial
mask, it now refers to the ubiquitous full-coverage mask.

Mecio Della Peste

The Plague Doctor mask is a costume derived from the original
sanitary mask of the plague doctors developed by Charles de Lorme in the 17th
century. The original masks had crystal disks in the eye holes as well, causing
them to look like they sported spectacles. The costume version usually includes
the long black cloak and hat and the white stick used for handling patients.

Masks of the Commedia
Dell’arte

Commedia Dell’arte contributed heavily to the look of
Carnival, contributing the masks of its stock characters to the cast of
revelers. Look for a guest post later in my blog tour to cover these masks.
(Refer to my website at www.tonyamacalino.com/page3.php
on May 30th for the link.)

Thanks so much for the opportunity to drop by! If after
reading all that, you feel the need for a Venetian fix, drop by Amazon or
Barnes & Noble for a copy of FACES IN THE WATER and follow Alyse as she
enters the magic and the mystery of the City of Masks.

Faces in the Water

By Tonya Macalino

Who created that slide of silk across your skin as you reached for your cinematic lover? Who recorded the crushing weight of the grizzly as you fought for your life in the fictional wilderness? It is Lone Pine Pictures’ Alyse Kate Bryant who wraps your body in the story only your mind was privy to before.

A brilliant sensory immersion artist and a wild daredevil, Alyse will do almost anything for the perfect sensory file, but the violent death of her father has her teetering on the very edge of reckless sanity.

For just one night, Alyse seeks refuge in the arms of a beautiful stranger.

And her recklessness finally has consequences.

Now Alyse finds herself trapped in the flooded ruins of Venice, a quarantine camp for the carriers of Sleepers’ Syndrome. But it can never be that simple. Because the Sleepers’ Syndrome carriers who populate the camp are no longer as human as they seem.

The city of legend is bringing its legends back to life.

They come now, Alyse.

Run.

About the Author

Tonya Macalino lives in Hillsboro, Oregon with her husband and two children. She is an avid collector of folklore and folk history, far too many to fit comfortably within the pages of any given book. When not working on her latest novel, she enjoys coaching other writers through the How to Build a Book workshops at Jacobsen’s Books & More. To read more of the little folklore gems she unearthed during her research, please visit her blog at www.tonyamacalino.com